


remnants of pain

by justasuperfan



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Bisexual Sokka (Avatar), Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Scars, This has probably been done before a lot, Zuko's Scar (Avatar), anyways I’m addicted, but now you get to hear it from me, so ha
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-28
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:53:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26151433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justasuperfan/pseuds/justasuperfan
Summary: sokka hurts sometimes. so does zuko. a mutual understanding leads to sokka finally learning about zuko’s scar.
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 237





	remnants of pain

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, I’m back writing non-tua stuff! Don’t worry I’m still obsessed with it. Anyways enjoy this angst written at midnight on a school night because I love zukka and I’m sad.

Zuko didn’t exactly remember a time when he didn’t have nightmares. Even before the Agni Kai that ruined his life, even before his mother’s disappearance and being struck by lightning and facing his father again, the nightmares had plagued him. Most of the time they had been about his father finally snapping. Sometimes they were about Azula. Sometimes he imagined what would happen if maybe they lost the war and his family all died.

So in summary, his life had always sucked.

He didn’t have his mom to hold him anymore and whisper that it would all be okay. He hadn’t had that in a long time. So, Zuko did the next best thing. He snuck out of his bedroom and tiptoed down the vast halls. The moonlight reflected off the polished floors, sending jarring memories of a time when the moon had disappeared. Everything seemed to give him bad memories. Even fire, the one thing that he seemed to have control over in his life, haunted him with dull pains and phantom burns.

The only noise when he stepped out of the palace was the creaking of the doors and the hushed whisper of night creatures. He passed by the guards, who he dismissed almost immediately so he could sit by the pond alone. The stars were like diamonds in the tranquil water. A few turtle ducks swam in circles as Zuko sat cross legged on the soft grass. He remembered watching Azula throw whole loaves of bread at the creatures, and the scolding he’d received when he copied her. It seemed Azula would always get what she wanted, whereas Zuko would always be punished for the simplest of things.

He stared down at the water with a longing in his heart for the simpler times. He missed his mother, who he knew was alive and hiding out somewhere. He missed having a family who didn’t constantly try and kill him. Though, if Azula had been slightly more of a daddy’s girl, she might have. But he couldn’t think about that. The whole point of going to the pond was to take his mind off things, though it only managed to force him deeper into his own thoughts. And because of that, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d gotten a full night of sleep.

Soft footsteps dragged the fire lord out of his stupor and his head shot up in alarm...only to be met by Sokka. 

“Mind if I join you?” The boy smiled and gave a small wave.

Zuko gestured to the pond. “Go ahead.”

He had never really been close with Sokka. Every conversation they’d had was either one-sided and bland or about war strategies. But Zuko was really trying to learn to connect with people. Iroh said that he would know when someone genuinely cared about him, and that when he did know that, he should talk to them more often. And he got the feeling Sokka didn’t normally come to the pond when he couldn’t sleep.

The boy maneuvered his still broken leg until he managed to sit down inches away from Zuko. He felt a blush crawl up his cheeks, though he didn’t know why. Yes, Sokka was cute and funny and kind, but Zuko didn’t like him like that. He already had a girlfriend, and he wasn’t looking for a new love interest. Not yet, at least. Besides, Sokka would be returning to his own home in a matter of days.

“Can’t sleep?” Zuko asked, figuring that was the only reason the water tribe boy would’ve followed him out there. 

“Yeah. Nightmares again.”

Zuko looked up slowly after tearing his gaze away from the ground. He picked a clump of grass from the ground and watched as the broken blades scattered in his hands. “Again?”

He wasn’t used to seeing Sokka so rattled or scared. Normally, he would’ve been cracking jokes or talking about Suki. Insteas, he just looked up at the moon with hurt in his eyes. Zuko vaguely remembered something about his girlfriend turning into the moon, but he hadn’t paid much attention because he was worried about getting to the prison. Now he wondered if he should’ve said something more comforting. But Zuko didn’t know how to talk to people, so how was he supposed to do that? 

When the water tribe boy didn’t respond, Zuko cleared his throat weakly. “I, uh...I had a nightmare, too. You wanna...I don’t know...tell me about it?”

Sokka gave him a quirked smile that sent butterflies in the firelord’s stomach. He’d always known Sokka was different, but maybe...maybe it was more than that. “It was about my mom. And Yue...er, my moon girlfriend. And Toph, Suki, Katara, you.”

“Me?”

Sokka looked over. “Why do you sound surprised? You’re my friend too.”

“Right. Um, uh, sorry. Continue.” He felt his face heating up even more as he looked away. His long hair blew into his eyes as he tried to listen and think at the same time. Should he confess his own problems to this boy, or would he even care? What if he just brushed him off, just like everyone else?

“Look, don’t tell anyone about this, but I was _scared._ I’m scared a lot, actually, but especially when we were taking out the air fleet. I didn’t know what had happened to you and Katara, my leg hurt so bad, and I thought we were going to die. I thought Suki and Aang were dead. And I keep remembering it, along with the deaths, and...” He looked up and saw Zuko staring into his blue eyes. “Sorry, too much information.”

“N-No, it’s just that I never really pegged you to be, like, serious. You just brush everything off like it doesn’t hurt you.” He felt his voice get more and more hoarse as he continued. God, those eyes were burning through his soul.

“I guess I just don’t like to face the world sometimes.”

“Yeah, me neither.”

He had to get better at conversation. But somehow it didn’t seem as awkward as usual. 

“Zuko, I hope you know that seeing that scar killed me.” Sokka said quietly. Zuko was surprised by how strange the boy was being, foregoing his usual jokes for vulnerability. It was hard to watch someone change so fast.

“Which one?”

“The new one.”

Oh, yeah. That. The scar that was still bandaged, the one that still burned on occasion and sent him back to when he was a vulnerable little kid who believed his dad would protect him. The scar that his own sister had caused, chalking the number of burns caused by his family up to two. He hated that it hurt to move and that he had to get help to dress himself. He was supposed to be the firelord, for spirit’s sake, and he was just a teenager who couldn’t do anything on his own.

“How’d you get the first one anyways?” He felt a gentle finger poke at his face and immediately jerked away, scrambling on the grass.

“Spirits, Sokka, what was that for?”

Sokka didn’t offer an answer, just crawled over awkwardky on one knee and placed his hand over Zuko’s scar and plunging half his vision into darkness. The palm reached the beginning of the scar, his fingers almost reaching his ear. Zuko felt his breathing quicken almost instantly. Touches that gentle were foreign to him. Not to mention it sent memories into his brain of when his father’s hand had been in that exact spot. Was Sokka trying to hurt him, too? He grabbed the boy’s hand and shoved it off his face before catching his breath. But Sokka didn’t move from his spot. “It’s not a coincidence that the scar is hand-shaped, is it?”

No one had ever asked. They’d all been taught not to. Either they were threatened by Ozai if they heard the true story, or they thought he was just a traveler whose home had been destroyed by the fire nation. He gulped and shook his head, trying to get rid of the memories, the nightmares, the pain. “My dad...I spoke out of turn. And he punished me.”

Sokka’s blue eyes went wide. “I’m so sorry. I can’t even imagine.”

They sat in that awkward position, Sokka still on one knee and both hands, Zuko leaning back on his elbows with his legs sprawled in a panicked position. Then the water tribe boy held out his arm, where a long white cut ran across it. Zuko inspected it before looking up. “What’s that from?”

Another quirked smile crossed Sokka’s face as he sat back on his good leg. “Boomerang came back.”

Zuko smiled. Sometimes scars came from places of good nature and playfullness, not pain and anger. Sokka had his own scars. And they seemed to fit him pretty well. “Zuko, we all have scars. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

“But mine came from abuse. And it’s pretty easy to see.”

“But it doesn’t _define_ you. Look at me. You’re funny, awkward, powerful, and pretty angry all the time. You’re Zuko. You’re not your scar. And you have so many people who love you.”

He smiled. “Thanks, Sokka.”

“No problem, Sir Firelord. Now, come on. Katara always wakes up when I do, and she won’t be happy to see me sneaking out.”

Almost on cue, a yell came from the palace doors. “SOKKA!” 

Zuko laughed quietly and the two began running from the waterbender. After a minute of watching Sokka limp pathetically, Zuko let him jump on his back so they could run faster. And so they ran around the palace, evading Katara and leaping through the window to Zuko’s room. They fell asleep on the floor after laughing for hours and trading stories. And for the first time, Zuko didn’t have any nightmares.

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to “justasuperfan uses the same ending lines for multiple different fics” anyways, hope you enjoyed the beginning of zukka, and sorry for the rushed ending. i’ve had a lot of school work lately, but i still managed to write this at midnight and finish five minutes ago.


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